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Houghting's Vault Win Not Enough For Huskies Vs. No. 4 Stanford

SEATTLE - Sophomore Ashley Houghting earned her 10th-career vault win Friday, and the Huskies scored season-highs on beam and floor, but it wasn't enough to overcome No. 4 Stanford, which pulled out a 196.075-193.675 win at Bank of America Arena.

Houghting put the Huskies on the victory stand in the team's first event, winning the vault with a score of 9.900. That win was the second on vault this year for Houghting and the 10th vault win of her UW career, bringing the sophomore within two wins UW's all-time career record on the event, held by 2006 alum Kelly MacDonald.

The Huskies followed with career-highs on bars for junior Nikki Waiss (9.750) and freshman Celia Short (9.650), and a team season-high on beam of 48.025. Sophomores Kristen Omori and Kelly Gilbert each nailed their beam routines, receiving matching 9.800s from the judges to finish in a tie for second behind Stanford's Alex Pintchouk (9.825).

Houghting, Gilbert and senior Chelsea Bakken then closed the meet in style for UW, each topping 9.8 on floor to lead the Huskies to a season-high floor score of 49.000. No Husky scored lower than 9.725 on floor, with Houghting leading the way in second place at 9.875.

Washington's team score of 193.675 nearly matched its season-high of 193.850 set at No. 3 Utah last week, and was the team's third-straight score above 193.000, a feat UW achieved just six times in all of 2006.

'I'm really proud of the way the girls competed tonight,' said first-year head coach Joanne Bowers. 'Different people stepped up in different areas, and that keeps us jazzed. We had a few problems with composure tonight, so that's something we'll definitely need to work on next week. We're also going to add some difficulty to some of our routines for our next meet with Arizona.'

Washington (1-3) will rest next weekend before welcoming No. 16 Arizona to Bank of America Arena on Friday, Feb. 9. The Wildcats will be the fourth top-25 opponent the Huskies have faced already this season, including No. 3 UCLA, No. 3 Utah and No. 4 Stanford (all rankings at time of meeting). For complete meet results, or for more information on Husky gymnastics, visit www.GoHuskies.com.

Quick hits:Ashley Houghting's victory was her third already this season ... Houghting's vault score of 9.900 was just .025 shy of her career-high in the event ... Kristen Omori's floor score of 9.825 was just .025 shy of her career-best in the event.